Thaksin to seek Mahathir's help

Thaksin to seek Mahathir's help

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Reuters): Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Friday he would ask Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at a meeting next week to help suppress separatists along the Thai-Malaysian border.

Thaksin, due to visit Kuala Lumpur on April 24, said Thai police would send a list of "70 to 80" suspected separatist guerrillas to Malaysian police, and hoped they would be arrested and sent for trial in Thailand.

Thailand was hit by a spate of bombings in Muslim-dominated southern towns early this month. A child was killed and dozens of people were wounded.

Thai newspapers have quoted unnamed security sources as saying Muslim separatist groups held a meeting in March in Kuala Lumpur to plan sabotage in southern Thailand in April. Malaysia has denied it had any connection with the bombings.